Improved railway-switch



A dilated Lrche atmet Gtiitiw.

JOHN

l'COX, JAMES OCNNOR, AND MICHAEL CAHALN, OF

COLUMBUS, GEORGIA.

Letters Patent No.- 93,278, dated August 3, 1869.

IMPROVED RAILWAY-SWITCH.

The Schedule referredV to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

. -wow To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, J oHN B. Cox, JAMES OCON- Non, and MICHAEL GAHALAN, of Columbus, in the county of Muscogee, and State of Georgia, have in vented a new and improved Railroad-Switch -and Switch-Stand; and we (lo-hereby declare that the following is a'full, clear, and exact description thereof,

means 'we are enabled to dispense with the use of frogs or points.

lt further consists of the` construction of the removable connecting-bar between the switch-rails.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will describe its construction and operation.

Figure 1 is a plan view of a railroad-track and switch Figure 2 is an upright sectional view of switch-stand;

Figure 3 is a detached view of the switch-lever;

Figure 4 is a detached view of the look-hasp on the switch-lever; and

Figure 5 is a view of the removable connecting-bar between the switch-rails. i

In iig. 1, which represents a railroad-track, with a switch in it, in order to curve the main track to a sidetrack, or turnout,

A A represent the ixed rails ot the main track;

A A', the fixed rails of the side-track, or turnout; and

-A A, the switoh-rails,that are bent in curved form, as shown in dotted lines, to connect with the side-track, or may remain as a partv of the straight track, and in the position-as now shown.

The track is laid inthe usual manner, having sills,

or ties B, with aconnnon chair, by which the rail is secured to the tie.

B' B are chairs secured to the ties that support the switch-rails, and have a raised tlange on one side only, which engages with the iiange on the bottom of the rail, and holds it in place. On one side of the track they are placed lso that the rail will be in a continuons straight line, to intersect the fixed straight track; ou the other, they will be placed so as to stop the rail on a regula-1' cuiwed line, to intersect with the fixed rails ofthe side-track, or turnout,-as seen in said iig. 1.

B B are the connecting-bars between the switchrails,and are constructed, as seen in tig. 5, or the equivaient thereof, by having a main bar, h, hook outside flange hh', and inside tiange lt h, secured iir'mly together, by screw-bolt o ahd nut o', by which construc-v tion the bar may be easily removed from between the rails, Whenever, for any cause, it may be necessary.

To one of these connecting-bars, B, which is near to the ends of the switch-rails A A, is an intermediate connecthig-bar G, which is attached to the bar B, by a hinged joint, at one end, and to the switch.- lever a, at the other, by a hinged joint also, which -allows the lever c to freely operate the switch-rails to any position desired to connect with any number' of side-tracks, or turnouts, within the scope of tscapa city to operate such switch.

When the switch-rails are moved over to connect with the side-track, they are caused to assume a regular curve, by means of the stop-chains B', so that the turn from the straighttrack to the sideltrackl will be ona curve, instead of a straight line, as is now practised, and thus avoidingv the angle 'always produced Where no stop-chairs are interposed, for the purpose of curving the track, at the point where the switch-rails do not move, and are connected, by the same chairs, with the iixed rail, thus producing an' easier and safer transfer of a train of cars from one track to another,

by means of the curved switch-rails, than can be had by the pivoted rail, or by simply moving one end of the switch-track, leaving the switch-rails in 'straight lines from end to end, and forming an angle at either end, where the switch-rails unite with the fixed rails, because it is'at these angles in the track, when thus formed, where the cars are most liable to leave the track, and make trouble and expense to again replace on thetrack. I

The switch-stand is entirely novel in its construc..

tion and operation, aswell as safe, less liable to' get out of order than ordinary switch-stands, andA rnuch cheaper in construction.-

g g are the standards, securely iixed upon its sills,

which may be elongated ties orotherwise, as desired, and as seen in rigs. 1 aud 2, and are connected together by cross-bars, or ties, for the purpose of strength and firmness, the legs of which are inclined and'rise to the proper height, to give suiiicient belowthe top of the stand to the point where the operating-lever a is hinged to the connecting-bar C, that operates the switch-traer.

Between the legs ofstandards y g are curvedguide-v pivoted point i and the connection of the lever with the connecting-rod c, is a pin, e, seen in iig. 3, which rests upon the circular girder j, and when the lever a is thrown either way, so as to have the switch-track coincident with either the main or side-track, the pin c will have arrived at notch e', into which it isallowed to fall, by means of the slotted hole, in which is pivotpin fi, and is held firmly in its place andY cannot be changed, without raising the lever, and thereby the pin out of notch e. But that there may be greater secuiity in making the switch fast in its position, and to avoid any danger from accidental displacement, a hooklever hasp, (l, fig. 4, is hinged to plate k, through which goes pin The hook-end of the hasp goes through a slot in lever a, so that when lever a is thrown one side, so that `the pin e will fall Ainto notch c', the lever falls, carrying withit the hasp d, in which is a slot, that is thrown over staple r1', in lever a, when any common padlock can be inserted in the staple, and the switch securely locked in its position.

NVhen the lock is taken out, the lever a can be raised to take pin e out of notch e', by simply throwing the lever-hasp off' of staple df, and turning it in the position seen in fig. 3, or it can be accomplished by simply` lifting up the lever, by which operation the hasplever is disengaged from the staple, when the pin is released from the notch, a'nd the lever -is free to be turned in the other direction.

In order to lengthen the lever, and give greater leverage, part a is hinged to the lever a', and is held in its place by a pin, as seen in gs. 2 and 3.

This switch-stand is simple in its construction; can be made out of bar-iron, at any common smiths shop, and can be as easily repaired at the same shop; is light, requiring less material in its construction, while it is as strong as iron can make it.

`We are aware that railroad-tracks have been moved a few inches, 1n order to change the passing cars to another track, involving the necessity oi inserting irogs and points in the main track, which are expensive and always a great detriment to the solidity of the truck;

but we have never known, prior to our invcntioma switch-track to slide far enough 'to one side to coinpletely take the passing cars from the main track, and thus avoid the use of sue-l1 frogs and points.

We are also aware that iu switch-stands, curved guides, having notches therein, to receive a pin or arm upon the switch-lever, whereby its further movement is arrested, until such pin or arm is forced out of the notch, are in use, Simply such construction and arrangement of devices wc do not claim, as our arrangement is different, as, by our construction, we are enabled to move the switch and lock the lever, in the notch of the curved guide, by means of operatin g the lever alone, which cannot be done by other constructions.

Having thus described our invention,

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The main track A, siding-track A', when arranged, with relation to the switch-track A, in `the manner and for the purpose substantially as described.

2. The combination ofthe switch-track A A, connecting-bars B, stop-chairs B', in curved lines, with the connecting-rod G and ylever a, in the manner and for the purpose substantially as set forth.

3. The removable p connecting-bar B", when constructed in the manner and for the purpose substantially as described.

J. B. COX. JAMES OCONNOR. MICHAEL CAI-IALAN.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM McGowN, EDWARD RAFFERTY. 

